HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston State Bearkats were swept Friday afternoon in the doubleheader against Southeastern Louisiana at the Bearkat Softball Complex.

Lindsey McLeod (12-11) got the call and responded with a six-strikeout complete game in the opener, but her five earned runs proved to be the downfall as the Kats lost a heartbreaker 5-4. Annie Bailey would follow that up with 6.1 innings pitched, as she allowed two runs throughout the first six innings, but would surrender three more late in the game before Darby Fitzpatrick finished the match in relief.

Brooke Malia and Tiffany Thompson proved to be the most effective Bearkats at the plate, combining for all three of the Sam Houston RBI on the afternoon. With the losses, the Kats find themselves one game out of the final spot in the SLC standings for the upcoming Southland Conference Tournament with four games left on the schedule.

UP NEXTThe Bearkats will close out the series with the Lions on Saturday afternoon with first pitch set for noon from Bearkat Softball Complex.

GAME 1 – Box ScoreSoutheastern Louisiana 5, Sam Houston 4 The Bearkats and Lions were tied at 3-3 entering the final inning in an error-laden series opener, but the Lions used two seventh-inning runs to squeeze out the narrow victory.

The first two innings were a pitching duel between McLeod and Rachel Hayes, which showed only one hit and five strikeouts combined. Southeastern jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the third inning off the bat of Kinsey Nichols who sent the first pitch she saw over the right field wall for a three-run homer.

Sam Houston would respond in the bottom of the frame, cutting into the lead after a Lion throwing error brought in Karlee Canada who had doubled earlier in the frame.

The pitcher’s duel continued once again until the bottom of the fifth frame when the Bearkats knotted the game at 3-3 after capitalizing on two Lion errors in the frame.

Both teams entered the final inning with three runs, but the Lions emerged victorious after pushing two runs across home plate after the first two Southeastern batters were retired. Sam Houston made it interesting with Thompson driving in Codi Carpenter by virtue of a sacrifice fly, but Malia hit into a double play to end the game.

GAME 2 – Box ScoreSoutheastern Louisiana 5, Sam Houston 1 A three-run Southeastern seventh inning opened up an otherwise very competitive game, clinching the weekend set in the Lions' favor.

The Bearkats jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first frame after a Malia sac fly pushed across what would be the only Bearkat run of the match.

The Lions quickly responded to the Bearkats early run with a two-run second inning thanks to a Madison Watson long ball. Both pitchers would go on to lock in and keep both offenses at bay, but the Bearkats had two golden scoring opportunities that were nipped in the bud by two outstanding outfield catches.

The Lions added three more runs in the final inning to push their advantage to four going into the final frame for the Bearkats. The Bearkats couldn’t find any magic in the seventh inning as Carpenter hit into a double play to end the second straight game for the Kats.